Three reasons you should hire a coach

You get home from work and turn on the faucet in the kitchen and the water doesn’t come out. After aimlessly looking under the sink you conclude that the problem requires more skill than you have. So you try to learn by watching several YouTube videos. After watching the videos you’re still not able to fix it. Finally, after some convincing from your spouse you realize you should call a plumber to come solve the problem.

Within four hours you’ve got running water. You’re happy, the spouse is happy. You’re out a couple of hundred dollars, but it was worth it.

Let’s look at a different scenario.

You wake up ready to tackle the day. You have a healthy breakfast, take a nice twenty minute walk and set aside ten minutes to relax and prepare for the day. Work goes well. No major problems, just the usual grind. You get home from work and your son comes up to you and says “why’d you miss my practice today?” “You told me you’d be there” he says. You think to yourself “what practice? No one told me about this!?”

Your spouse comes through the door and says “where were you? We just talked about this last week.”

After feeling guilty about missing your sons practice you spiral into a downward funk and resort to eating a whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s along with a sleeve of Oreos to help you feel better.

The next morning you feel terrible from the choices you made the night before. You tell yourself “I’ll just start a diet on Monday and get back on track”

Monday roles around and four days into your sugar free diet you down another pint of good ‘ol Ben & Jerry’s because your boss gave the promotion to an undeserving coworker.

Several months go by and the cycle has repeated itself about five times now. You’ve tried every diet you can think of and just assume that you’re broken. After some contemplation you just decide it’s not worth the effort to be healthy. You’d rather enjoy food without having to feel guilty about it all the time.

Years go by and suddenly you're fifty pounds overweight.

Despite having a problem and having failed time and time again you decided to not hire a trainer. YouTube, blogs, Facebook and random experts’ opinions are what have guided most of your decisions around what to eat and how to exercise, not the expertise of a certified coach.

You’re willing to pay a plumber to fix the leak in your house but not pay for the expertise, support, accountability, experience, and friendliness of a coach.

A good coach will tell you exactly what to do. But an excellent coach will help you create an effective plan to get you the results you want. An excellent coach will walk alongside you during the implementation of that plan and provide support, guidance, recommendations, accountability and changes to the program based on your feedback.

While this is often seen as “fluff” for most people the ones who choose to hire an excellent coach often yield the results they were hoping for and have a lifetime of success rather than short term success with out lasting change.

If you identify with this keep reading for three quick reasons why you might benefit from hiring a coach. Please note having a coach is not an absolute necessity for long term success. There are thousands of individuals who can have lasting success without the help of a coach. For some people though, having the extra support and guidance is quite helpful.

1. A coach is educated

Choosing the right coach can be difficult. When you think of a doctor to choose do you only choose a doctor who’s “in network” with your insurance? Or, do you choose a doctor who has a proven track record of happy patients and safe practices? If you go to a physical therapist do you go to the one that accepts your insurance or do you go to the specialist for your specific injury?

If you’re struggling to lose weight due to having PCOS or hypothyroidism you should seek a coach who specializes in those things. Specializes means they have specific accreditation such as a certificate, concentration or formal training in a certain area. For example, a plastic surgeon is a broad category, but if you want nose reconstruction you’d choose a surgeon that has specific training in nose reconstruction.

The bare minimum to look for in a personal trainer or a nutrition coach is a certification in either area. The formal terms are “certified personal trainer CPT” or “certified nutrition coach, CNC”. Then you’ll want to take some time to investigate the track record of that individual. Do they have testimonials or positive reviews from their clients? Do they care about you and want you to succeed more than just getting paid by you? Have they helped people reach their goals?

An extra step of validation is to hire a coach that has a college degree in the related health field. For example, if you’re hiring a personal trainer they should have a bachelors degree in exercise science or kinesiology. If you’re hiring a nutrition coach they should have a degree in nutrition, dietetics, or at minimum a minor in nutrition.

In summary, make sure the coach you hire will take time to learn about your specific need. Also, make sure they have experience helping other people with the same need you have. Don’t think that just because you’ve done your “research” by watching a couple YouTube videos and a few blogs that all of a sudden you’re an expert at solving the issue at hand.

2. A coach will hold you accountable

Have you ever tried to start a new diet or a new workout program on your own with no support or accountability? Most likely you never finished that diet or program. You likely need another person to hold you accountable. More than just checking in, a good coach will ask the hard questions and be real with you, especially if you’re not making progress at the rate you'd like.

Not only will a good coach check in with you they will also work with you to provide a solution and an explanation as to why you’re not making progress. A good coach focuses on your strengths and will help you be more confident rather than feeling guilty, ashamed and helpless.

3. A coach wants you to succeed

Believe it or not a good coach doesn't want you to think they’re the expert. A good coach will help you understand how to be successful on your own. Not that you can’t have the same coach indefinitely but you shouldn’t have to feel reliant on your coach indefinitely.

A good coach will adapt with your ever changing life. Your schedule, your preferences, your stress, your goals and everything else that life throws your way. One example of how I do this with my clients is with their exercise programs. If a client texts me and says "hey coach I'm going to be out of town next week but will have access to a hotel gym." I'll adapt by figuring out what equipment the hotel gym has and then will change their program as needed. Another example is if an exercise is too hard or unsafe I will change the movement so that it’s not so difficult.

If you're interested in getting a workout program that is updated on a weekly basis for you and your needs you can learn more here. If you're wanting to improve your health through healthy habits and nutrition coaching, you can learn more here.

In conclusion, if you’re struggling to break through a plateau hire a good coach. If you keep making the same mistake over and over without success hire a good coach. If you just need help and someone to talk to about what you want then hire a coach that will work for you.